LONG-TERM Livingston crock Jonathan Brown has been told he won’t be offered a new deal to stay at the club.

Livi bosses John Hughes and John Collins have been forced to make tough decisions about who to keep for next season. And Brown, who has been out for most of the season with a recurring ankle injury, will join youngsters Michael Scott, Bryce Naples and David Aitken in the hunt for a new club this summer.

The news comes days before the Lions take on Dundee in Saturday’s final-day clash and Hughes hopes the departing players will understand the decision.

He said: “Finances are very tight at the club and every decision we make affects the budget.

“It’s unfortunate that we can’t keep every player on, but I want them to know it’s all down to money. They’re all good boys.”

Although 22-year-old Brown (below) is heading for the door, Hughes has told the former Hearts youngster that he is welcome to train with Livingston when he is free of injury.

The Livi boss said: “I want to do right by my players and, if Jonathan wants to come back and work with us, we’ll be happy to have him train here.

“He has been unlucky with injury.”

Hughes also revealed that seven key Livi players have, this week, been offered deals to remain at the Braidwood Motor Company Stadium – but did not want to disclose names in case rival clubs are alerted.

Bobby Barr and Keaghan Jacobs both penned new deals last month, while Marc McNulty, Stefan Scougall, Liam Fox and Craig Barr all have contracts extending beyond the summer.

And Hughes hopes the seven men offered deals will be tied up by the time they travel to Dens Park for Livingston’s final match of the season, a fixture which could see them clinch third place in the First Division if they come away with a victory.

He said: “We obviously need to know the answers quickly so that, if anyone isn’t staying, we can react to that.

“We are hopeful that the players offered contracts will see which direction we are looking to take the club and accept the offer.”

Hughes admits cash is tight at the club and he reckons there will only be enough money available to add one or two players to the existing squad.

He said: “We won’t be making big changes to the squad as there isn’t the money to bring in a lot of new players.

“If anyone new does comes in, it will be one player or two, at the very most – and we’re happy with that.

“We have a very good squad of talented and driven young players who are buying into our philosophy at the club.”